What is the one advice you would give to a first year associate?

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Be kind to yourself - you’ll go through a lot of stress, self doubt & anxiety so self care and self love is #1!

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Proofread your work every single time. Will form a good habit and make you known as someone with attention to detail (if you care about that sort of thing).

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Run.

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It’s okay that you don’t know what you’re doing. We were all there once and just to let you in on a little secret as you get more senior your still not going to know what you’re doing sometimes

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But! Make sure to always ask questions and never assume! The more you ask the more you learn and the more mishaps and mistakes you can avoid

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Know your limits and when to set boundaries. Also keep a running list of common errors to catch yourself from making silly mistakes.

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In the same vain: Write down how long you think an assignment might take you and then check how long it took. This is a good exercise to handle conflicting priorities and let people know how long you think something is taking. You will also see improvement in your efficiency and that can be rewarding.

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If you touch a case, be prepared to be staffed on it. A partner saying “do you have time to draft a complaint” is a really “do you can bandwidth to be on this case for the next three years of your life,” not just “do you have 20-40 hours right now to do this one assignment.” Plan accordingly.

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Find another profession before it is too late.

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Try to stay connected to the outside world. You'll be surprised at how narrow your focus can become and the influence your colleagues will have on you. Take time to think about what you want for yourself and less time focusing on "winning" the game of becoming a lawyer (ie climbing the ranks, billing the most hours, pleasing the partners, etc) because you might "win" and discover that you actually hate the game and that it is inconsistent with your highest values.

Also, be wary of overly confident statements of what the law is or how a court will rule on anything. Almost nothing in the law (or life) is that certain. The better approach is to ask questions and don't be afraid to show you don't know.

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Also: Better to ask if you should send something out yourself than give the assigning attorney a heart attack when they see it in their inbox to the counterparty

The people you work with do not have to be your besties. Set boundaries with partners, colleagues and clients, and stick to them.

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The only way out is through.

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Take deep breaths. Never send something without proofreading. If you’re feeling frazzled/rushed, walk away for even just a second so you can look with fresh eyes.

Copy and paste whenever it’s relevant so you don’t make easy mistakes (misspelled names, etc.)

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But make sure to change back to smart quotes!

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Communicate!! Let people know as soon as possible if you are running behind on a deadline. People rarely mind shifting an internal deadline with notice, but they do mind late work product/being in the dark. Resist the urge to disappear until you finish an assignment.

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Ask your questions before turning in work. Please. I beg of you.

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You won’t feel like you understand how to do this job until you’re a third year. That will feel like FOREVER, but it will actually go really quickly. Don’t worry too much; nobody expects you to know anything. Be curious and thoughtful and ask allllll the questions. The first few years are an apprenticeship and your only job is to absorb like a sponge. Do NOT focus on getting a bonus your first few years; honestly, you won’t know enough yet to take on enough work to get you to bonus. And that is OK—you will get there!!! Don’t take the job personally, take care of yourself, and don’t lose sight of what really matters to you.

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A few things this may sound harsh but it’s not intended to be - this is seriously stuff I tell juniors all the time to try to help them succeed. First, read swimming lessons for baby sharks. Second, ask questions all the time. And third and most important, get it out of your head that you are too good or too educated to do a task and understand that you really know nothing at this point because law school doesn’t actually teach you how to be a lawyer - years of experience does. Your worth to the firm at this stage is to do things like turn comments, be on top of a file and where every moving piece is and other more administrative things while soaking up knowledge so you can then the next time be the one who does a first draft. The order is: first we pay you for what you do, then for what you know (mid level), then for what you think(senior), then your judgement (partner). Don’t get ahead of yourself, take the time to learn, jump in on everything you can to build your knowledge and do what you can do - ensure defined terms are consistently used, formatting is good, no typos, sentences make sense, etc. We were all at this level so don’t freak if you don’t know something - do best at what you can do and the rest will come if you engage your mind and listen to what others are doing. Read corrections and comments. A lot of stuff in big law is also self study - read version changes so you can see what the senior did and then ask questions, etc. Hope this helps!

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All of this.

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Read voraciously and never ask a question without looking into the answer first.

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When you don’t know what to do on an assignment and don’t even know what to ask - take all the information down and immediately google as much as you can back at your desk. Partners are much happier when you ask them your basic questions 10 minutes after getting the assignment vs when you are supposed to be producing the deliverable. Plus you can play it cool, “hey I forgot to ask you, is this an X or Y situation? Because I believe the rules are different….”

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Quit

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As a first year this is all I can think of. Wish I did myself a favor and pursued a different path…

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Focus on developing relationships. Relationships with other associates, partners, clients. It will make the job more enjoyable and it will pay off down the road. It’s easy to get swept up in billables.

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RUN!

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